Shackle seal



April 4, 1944. s.'M. MoBERG 2,345,767

sHAcKLE SEAL Fund sept. s, 1942 lllllllllllllllm 2d IN V EN TOR.

Patented Apr. 4, 1944 SHACKLE SEAL SigurclManfrecl Moberg, West Orange, N. J., as. v Y signor to E. J. Brooks Company, Newark, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application September 3, 1942, Serial No. 457,238

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a shackle seal in which a seal of compressible material, such as lead, is to be cast around the shackle.

Shackles heretofore used have generally been made of wire which, although flexible, will lie fairly inert in the mold while the casting takes place. Under War conditions, wire is diiiicult to obtain and the attempt has therefore been made to substitute shackles of brous material for those of wire. Such shackles of brous material are clicult to control and Will not remain inert in the mold but will sprawl all over it, but as the shackle must lie in the seal in a very accurate position and these seals are made by the thousands, means must be devised whereby the hands of the operator will not be employed in holding the shackle or string in position for any considerable length of time.

The main object and feature of this invention is to provide means whereby a exible shackle, whether of metal or of fibrous material, becomes so imbedded in the seal, after the latter is compressed, that it is practically impossible to remove it from the seal without destroying the latter, or at least leavin-g evidence that the seal has been tampered with.

In the accompanying drawing the invention is disclosed in a concrete and preferred form in which:

Fig. l is a plan view of a mold such as may be used in carrying out the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View substantially on the plane of line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 showing the shackle positioned in the mold before casting:

Fig. 4 is a View similar to Figs. l and 3, but showing the core inserted in the mold;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, but showing the seal cast in the mold;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view substantially on the plane of line B-S of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a view in elevation of the improved seal;

Fig. 8 is an edge view of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional View substantially on the plane of line 9-9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. l0 is a sectional View substantially on the plane of line lll-Ill of Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11 is a sectional View substantially on the plane of line I I--II of Fig. 7.

l0 indicates an open-face mold having two overow openings Il and I2 located opposite, and extending substantially'at right angles, to each other, one, Il, extending through sidewall I3, and the other, I2, extending through the backwall I 4 of the mold. I5 is a shackle, here of flexible brous material, one end, I6, of which is inserted in overflow opening I2, and the adjacent portion, I l, of which shackle is placed across the mold with the free end I3 thereof extending out through overllow opening I I. I9 is a core member consisting of a main body 20 and two prongs 2l connected by a curved surface 22. This core member is slidingly inserted into the mold through slot 23 located at the point where overflow opening I2 is located, the sliding movement being in the direction of the longitude of portion Il of the shackle. When core member IS has been fully inserted into the mold, part of portion Il of the shackle lies behind body 20 thereof and part of said portion I1 extends between prongs 2|. The function of the core member, in addition to shaping the seal to be cast, is to tend to center and hold the shackle With respect to overflow opening II. Molten metal is now poured into the open-face mold and the seal 24 is produced with the shackle rmly imbedded therein. 32 indicates an ejector member that acts to close the bottom of the mold during the casting operation and to eject the seal after casting. It has been found that the molten lead does not consume the fibrous shackle but only chars it slightly. The metal also forms two teats 25 and 26 adjacent the two overflow openings II and I 2, which teats are an integral part of the seal and surround, in whole or in part, the shackle, It will be observed that teats 25 and 26 extend at an angle to each other, and that therefore the shackle is held very firmly and cannot easily be dislodged, and certainly cannot be reintroduced into the seal without leaving evidence thereof. It will also be observed that, as teat 25 is immediately between face 2l and edge 28 of the seal, it does not interfere with the use of a tool to compress the seal.

Seal or compressible member 24 consists here of opposite faces 21 and a circumferential edge 28 and, owing to the shape of core member I9, is provided at one side with a segmental-shape slot 29 and at its other side with two openings 30 that are spaced apart and which communicate with opposite ends of slot 29. Teat 26 is located adjacent slot 29, and shackle l5 extends from said teat 26 through one face 21 of the seal, or one wall of the slot 29, where it is iirmly anchored, into said slot 29 and thence portion Il of said shackle extends through interior body portion 3| of the seal and emerges at teat 25 between, and substantially in the same plane as,

the two Openings 30 at the edge of the seal adjacent the other face 21.

In use, the free end I8 of the shackle is passed through the article to be sealed and then up through one opening 30, around segmental-shape slot 29, and then down through the other opening 30. It will be observed that in Dassin-g through slot 29, the shackle crosses and lies against that portion l1 of the shackle which extends from teat 26 to interior body 3l of the seal, and, therefore, when the seal is compressed in the usual way the two portions of the shackle,

that cross each other at an angle, are held more 15 ings. v

I claim:

In a shackle seal in which a member of compressible material is so molded as to have a segmental-shape slot at one side and two spacedapart openings at the other side, which two openings communicate with opposite ends of the segmental-shape slot, the combination with said member of a flexible shackle, to be threaded through said openings and slot, said shackle imbedded in said member and having itsends protruding therefrom, one end protruding adjacent toand at an angle to the plane of the slot, and the other end protruding substantially in the same plane as, and intermediate, the two open- SIGURD MANFRED MOBERG. 

